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Happy Endings: Can this process help stop your ends from breaking?

This post is the third installment in a series of conversations we have with a hip length blogger by the name of Yahya, If you haven't had a chance to read Yahya's regimen in this post, stop whatever you are doing and head over there now.....I'll wait.

Her regimen is so detailed that I'm sure everyone learned from her sharing. Me included. Days prior to learning about her regimen, I was going for a walk when a thought crossed my mind. I reflected back to scalp massage session I was engaged in prior to bed. The good news was that my hair didn't shed much at all during the session. I attribute that to my daily scalp massages. Now here's the bad news, the amount of short broken hairs, although not excessive, was too much for my taste. I thought to myself "if there was a way to stop, or minimize the breakage to my ends, I would be forever grateful." After sharing my intentions, I allowed myself the freedom to continue to focus on other thoughts, knowing the answer would somehow appear.

Little did I know that a solution would come to me within days. As I'm reading Yahya's regimen, I happen upon a line that stopped me dead in my tracks. When she said "another thing I do to my ends is to treat it with more protein than the rest of my hair," it was like a bolt of lightning struck me. Everything she said made complete sense. I was so intrigued by her comment that I reached out to her to find out more detail around her process.

Here's what she stated:

"In between every other wash, like every week and a half, I co-wash my ends with a protein conditioner. Only my ends. This also helps give my hair some volume. Sometimes, if I feel my ends really need it, I'll baggy them after co-washing, like a little deep conditioning treatment. Half the time when I use protein throughout my hair, I don't apply to my new growth, especially if it's a medium or heavy protein. When I start flat ironing my new growth, what I will do is add some protein ingredients to my caramelization treatment to give it a little extra strength against direct heat."

I was not privy to her exact process last week when I first posted her regimen. But I was still excited about the idea of focusing protein on the ends. So I decided to do something a little different last wash day. It was time to do a strengthening treatment using my Pure Protein. (*Side note* I love Pure Protein because it can be used with my favorite moisturizing conditioner. This helps me avoid having overly stiff hair following my by-weekly protein treatments.**) I added half a capful, to a small portion my Silicon and Kamechon mix and proceeded to apply the deep conditioner to the ends of my hair (probably the last 3 inches or so). Once done, I waited for 15-20 minutes before mixing in more conditioner to the blend to dilute its protein contents. Then I applied it to the rest of my hair. So the conditioner on my ends had greater protein levels then on the length of my hair and the conditioner remained on my ends longer than the rest of my hair.

Did this work? You bet it did! I have noticed less breakage overall but more importantly, fewer of the little broken pieces which have plagued me for so long. I manipulated my hair quite a bit with finger styling just to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. Although it didn't stop my breakage 100%, I do see the potential in this process adding even more strength to my hair as time goes on. It's been a while since my ends have felt as strong as they are now. This will make a huge impact in retention in the long run. Thank you again Yahya, for helping to inspire us.

Hmm! I recently bought a Redken spray protein treatment that I use throughout my entire head once a week. Maybe I can use it just on my ends when I cowash too, so that they receive a little extra strength throughout the week. Thanks for the tip!

I am protein obsessed. So many ladies in the natural hair community say they are protein sensitive but the thing is our hair is made of protein and so it needs protein for strength. I think the confusion lies in what type of protein to use.

I pretty much can use any type of protein on my natural hair. I just make sure to balance it with moisture. I am really interested in trying this Pure Protein. I currently use Aubrey Organics Glycogen Protein Balancing conditioner and love love love the stuff. you can use it every day without getting hard hair..However, I use it weekly. You must try it if you haven't before.

Thank you for this post. I am going to order the pure protein. I too released my intentions re: my ends, and here I am! So thankful!! Funny enough, I have the other products you use coming in the mail tomorrow. I'll be all set. Thanks again!